Galvanotherapy

/ɡælvənəˈθɛrəpi/ noun

Definition

Medical treatment using electric current, particularly using galvanic current to treat disease or injury; early electrotherapy.

Etymology

From galvano- (galvanism) + therapy (from Greek therapeia, healing). Developed in late 1700s-1800s as doctors hoped electricity could cure various ailments.

Kelly Says

Galvanotherapy was widely practiced in Victorian medicine—doctors treated paralysis, rheumatism, and even depression with electricity, and surprisingly, some patients reported feeling better (probably a placebo effect, but hope was powerful medicine).

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